Sorting through plastic waste and recycling piles is neither an easy feat, nor a fun job, but someone’s got to do it. Fortunately, Korean robotics company AETECH has developed just the robots that are ready to do all that dirty work.
Specifically, AETECH has developed an artificial intelligence robot called ATron that’s set to revolutionize how we sort and recycle plastic waste. With a sorting accuracy of 99.3% and the ability to handle over 40 different types of recyclable items, ATron is not your average recycling bot.
The robot has both an RGB-sensor and a hyperspectral sensor, which help distinguish between different colors of PP used in delivery containers, and can sort PE used in various products – even when the products are dirty.
For reference, PP is short for polypropylene which is coded 5 on the recycling classification scale, while PE stands for polyethylene, and is usually classified as code 4.
AETECH’s CEO, Park Tae-hyeong, has a bold vision for the future of waste management. He aims to create a world where smart cities handle waste sorting automatically, eliminating the need for manual separation.
AETECH has already signed contracts to sell over 10 ATron robots and is planning to launch a new model called ‘Dual ATron’ later this year.
In the next year or so, the company plans to develop a humanoid version of ATron, because according to their CEO, people prefer working alongside humanoid robots in the field.
AETECH will also be bringing their AI-powered sorting technology directly to apartment complexes. They’re collaborating with South Korea company E&S on product development, and are involved in a technology development project that could see their robots installed in apartment recycling facilities in the next few years.
Perhaps the most ambitious project in AETECH’s pipeline is the establishment of a 500-square-meter unmanned robot resource recycling center in Incheon. This facility will be entirely operated by ATron robots, handling all processes without human intervention.
But AETECH isn’t content with just revolutionizing waste management in Korea. The company has its sights set on global markets, with exports to Singapore, Australia, UAE, and the EU, and they project that their overseas sales will surpass domestic sales by 2028.
As we continue to grapple with environmental challenges, innovations like AETECH’s AI recycling robots offer a glimpse into a more sustainable future. It’s exciting to see how technology can be leveraged to address real-world problems, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on AETECH’s progress in the coming years.
But beyond the global plastic-recycling market, AETECH has even bigger ambitions: the company wants to send its sorting robots to boldly go collect trash where no robot has helped collect trash before — space.
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